


heavy stars

by GayKravitz



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Dipper helps, Mabel works through some stuff, Post-Weirdmageddon, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 11:16:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14831264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GayKravitz/pseuds/GayKravitz
Summary: Mabel doesn’t find shooting stars as nice as she used to.





	heavy stars

**Author's Note:**

> AGAIN, I KNOW I SHOULD BE WORKING ON THE OTHER THING, but dont worry!! the second chapter is gonna be super long to make up for it taking so long >:3c 
> 
> no beta readers or editing we die like men

Dipper stands in front of his sister’s bedroom door. His eyebrows are furrowed and there's a small frown on his face. He shifts his weight from one foot to another and holds out a hand to the door, as if he were going to knock. He hesitates, then puts down his hand down again. His frown deepens and he takes a deep breath.

Mabel was supposed to be ready an hour ago. She usually takes longer than him, but this was absurd. Their parents offered to drive them on the first day, but even they had work today.

“Mason,” Their dad calls from downstairs. “Is Mabel ready yet? Your mother just left.”

Dipper clenches his jaw slightly. “Not yet, Dad!”

“Okay, but school starts in 20 minutes and I have to be at work by 9, so don’t take too long!”

Dipper sighs. He turns back to Mabel’s door, and swallows. He knows that something’s wrong. He knows that he should just go in and see what’s wrong but he’s not sure. He doesn’t know if Mabel is sick or she had a nightmare or a panic attack. He still isn’t sure how to help Mabel during any of those, what she needs when she’s hyperventilating after a nightmare from-

Dipper tenses and shakes his head, clearing away any bad thoughts. It’s only been a week since they came home and their parents have already mentioned therapy to them, on account of the panic attacks, nightmares and dissociation that came with them. They both say no, we’re fine, we just saw a really scary movie over the summer! It wasn’t a lie per say, but it also wasn’t the truth.

How do you tell your parents that you’ve been traumatized by a literal demon, more than once? They barely believed it when Dipper and Mabel told them about the Stans reuniting, but they proved that one with a video call. It was mostly their parents and grandparents screaming at their grunkles and also a lot of crying and promises to visit during Thanksgiving.

(Dipper isn’t sure if he’s ready for that, especially since he knows that his great-grandmother comes over every Thanksgiving. Yeesh. That was going to be a thing, huh?)

Dipper comes back into the present when he hears something move on the other side of the door. He braces himself, expecting the door to open and Mabel come out with tear stained cheeks, but nothing happens. He stares at the door knob, his hands tightening into fists.

Okay, that was it. He knows Mabel needs him. He puts his hand on the door knob and turns it slowly. He pushes it open, peeking his head through and into his sister’s room.

Mabel is sitting on her bed, her knees to her chest all ready to go. She’s staring at the wall opposite to her, where a sweater is hung on the wall. Mabel looks up when Dipper enters and Dipper sees her red-rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks and grimaces.

“Yikes. You okay?” He says, walking up and sitting next to her on her bed. She says nothing, just leans against him. Dipper wraps an arm around her and gives her a second to gather her thoughts.

Mabel sighs after a minute. “I used up all my sweaters during Weirdmageddon. 5 years worth of sweaters, gone.” Dipper rubs her arm and she smiles a little. “It doesn’t bother me. Not at all. I was glad I could be of some use, what with me being the one responsible for the rift breaking.”

“You didn’t know.” Dipper whispers comfortingly, like he’s been telling her for the past week and a half. “You couldn’t have possibly known.”

Mabel looks down at the ground. “That doesn’t really change the fact that I did it.” Dipper wishes he could make her believe that it wasn’t her fault but he knows that she’ll have to come to terms with that on her own. “Anyways, losing my sweaters doesn’t bother me at all. What bothers me is that out of all the sweaters I could’ve saved, it’s that one.”

Dipper follows her gaze to the opposite wall with the sweater, and understands her frustration. It’s her shooting star sweater. It’s clean and untarnished, hanging up on the wall. Dipper sighs through his nose and presses her closer to him, as if trying to shield her from the garment.

Mabel smiles a bit at the action. Then she frowns again and buries her face into her knees. “I don’t know what I want to do with it. I was going to wear it today, it’s my only sweater, but every time I wear it…” She shakes her head into her leggings. “I don’t know. I feel stupid. I’m crying over a sweater.”

Dipper pulls her closer. “You aren’t stupid, Mabel. It- It’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to feel like this.” Ford told him that, one night after it was over. When Dipper told Ford about the sock opera incident, how stupid he felt to have trusted him and how he couldn’t look in the mirror or sleep for a week after it. Ford told him the same thing he tells Mabel. “You didn’t deserve it. Neither of us did.”

Mabel’s breath hitches, and she lets out a small sob. Dipper readies himself for the oncoming storm of crying, positioning himself so Mabel can press her face into his chest and let it out. She does, and Dipper doesn’t mind it in the slightest. He just hugs her and lets her cry into him.

It doesn’t last nearly as long as Dipper thought it would. Mabel pulls away, taking deep shuddering breaths in an attempt to control her crying. Her hands scrub at her face, and Dipper smiles softly at her.

“Feel better?” Mabel nods, still trying to control her breathing. She pulls away completely once she does, and stands up on two wobbly legs. She walks over to the sweater that hangs on her wall, and she pulls it down. Dipper watches her feel the wool in her hands, her eyes cast down and looking at it sullenly. She takes a deep breath before walking over to her closet and hanging it up.

“Not yet.” She says, smiling sadly at her brother. “I don’t think I’m ready.” Dipper nods and stands up.

“That’s okay, Mabel. You don’t have to rush it.” He assures her, and she hugs him tightly. He pats her, but she holds on.

“...Thanks, Dipper.” She tells him. Before he can say anything, she runs out of the room and down the stairs, announcing her readiness to their dad.

Dipper smiles as he watches her go. He goes to follow her, listening to her tell their dad all about her new hairband, and leaves the sweater hanging heavily in the closet.

 

**Author's Note:**

> gaykravitz.tumblr.com
> 
> this was written in like, an hour and a half
> 
> im gonna b writing some stuff for pride month so keep an eye out!!!


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